Love, Sacrifice, Country
Mubashshira Tasnim Mahmud
The chattering sound of the children increased as the school bell rang. Two non-identical twins; Shahid and Rashid, ran out of the school. Both brothers ran around and played on the muddy roads with lush green paddy rice fields on one side and mustard fields on the other. As they ran, they saw the fields looking as bright as the sun with butterflies of all sizes flying and collecting honey from the flowers. While the scents from Jasmine flowers filled their nostrils, butterfly-peas flowers seemed like scattered sapphires amongst the green grasses. But their happiness and laughter soon turned into terror as they saw something orange-red was sparkling and smelled like burning-ash. Frightened, they both ran towards it, only to realize that it was their very own house!
The brothers stood there, paralyzed by shock at the sight of their house on fire and raising black ashes. The neighbors that crowded near Shahid and Rashid’s house trying to put off the fire by throwing water, said that the fire was caused by the heaps of straw kept on the barn house nearby. Soon after, a man came running as if he was wrestling with the fire and yelled, “I was not able to save them!” A heart-wrenching mourning cry came from both the brothers; and Rashid fell unconscious while Shahid went numb. Three people came running towards them and held them in their arms. Shahid stared in horror and large teardrops fell from his eyes while seeing their dream (house) and shelter (parents) being burnt to ashes. Their uncle too stood there with teary eyes. The person who never seemed to have time for his nephews, held both Shahid and Rashid in his arms and asked them to come and start living with him.
The brothers had not yet gotten over the pain of losing their parents and already more pain started to daunt them. One night, as they sat having dinner, Rashid accidentally spilled water on the plate of his uncle’s food, and he was beaten up severely. Upon seeing his younger brother’s pain, Shahid tried to protest, their uncle snatched their plates of food and locked them in the other room. Both the brothers sat in a semi-dark room with only a hanging lightbulb above them which kept flickering again and again. Their cheeks were wet with tears, eyes red from crying and their stomach growled as they remembered how their parents would lovingly feed them with their hands. Shahid held Rashid to his chest, wiped his tears and tried to calm him. Eventually, they both fell asleep with empty stomachs. They were severely mistreated by their uncle, made to work at home and outside all day, neither fed good food nor allowed to go to school and beaten up for the slightest mistake. This became a regular routine for the boys.
Both the brothers lived this miserable life for a few years. One day, Shahid woke up from sleep only to experience his biggest fear; his younger brother was missing! He searched all around, asked everyone but couldn’t find Rashid anywhere. He lost the only part that remained of his family! Completely devastated, Shahid had almost decided to give up on his life, but then remembered his father’s words “I know our life is not easy but remember, giving up is never an option.” Meanwhile, the only reason his uncle was sad was the blatant fact that now he would have only one slave to work for him. Shahid could not take the injustice anymore, as he knew that the only reason Rashid ran away was because he could not tolerate being tormented any longer. He was always more sensitive than his brother. Shahid fled from his uncle’s house and as he was walking on the road, he met one of his father’s old friends, Raqib, who had come into the village after almost 10 years. Shahid told him about what had happened to him and his family. After listening to Shahid’s story, he decided to take care of him and raise him like his own son, and at the same time, get rid of the pain of childlessness. Raqib always motivated Shahid to fulfill his father’s wish of becoming an army officer. He gathered all his strength from his father’s words and Mr. Raqib had been his biggest motivation. He studied all day and night with the hope that one day he might be able to do something for his country. Finally, the day came when he got a chance in the Bangladesh Army and joined as a second lieutenant. He could feel his parents’ blessings showering him from above. But the agony of his missing brother never really left him, yet he always believed that someday he might reunite with him.
Soon the Liberation War of 1971 began, and Shahid, like many brave sons of Bangladesh, strived towards the mission of independence. He filled his void of love for his family by filling it with the love of his motherland. He grew extreme hatred towards the traitors of his motherland (rajakars). He was operating from sector 8 Barisal. Because of his bravery and intelligence, he was sent to the difficult operations where he succeeded every time. He often had to hunt down the inhuman soldiers of the Pakistani army and kill them.
After 9 months of bloodshed, the Liberation War ended with the glorious victory of Bangladesh. Several traitors were caught. He was ordered to go and shoot the traitors. He and some of his fellow members went to fulfill the orders. The heroes looked at them with disgust. Unlike all of them, Nuru, one of the traitors, looked guilty and helpless. When Shahid’s fellow colleague called out his name to take position,Nuru fell on the ground and cried out “Bhaiiii!”. Unable to understand, Shahid stared in shock, and realized that Nuru was none other than his own younger brother Rashid! He ran towards him and held his hand, weeping continuously. “Rashid! You are alive?!! b-but why did you do this?”, asked Shahid. Rashid hugged his brother, trembling with fear and excitement upon seeing his brother, after an eternity of separation. He said with watery eyes, “I am sorry bhai, but I could not stay in that hell anymore, so I had to run away. But after I left home, I took shelter in the next village. There, one day, I heard somebody discussing that a boy who had lost his family in an accident was thrown into a well by his uncle and he drowned! I thought it was you. What could I do bhai? I had no family, no shelter, no food and now not even a reason to live. Nobody gave me any job, out of desperation, I begged on the street but nobody showed me any mercy. Then I was forced to become a traitor out of helplessness. I did not want to…” . Before he could finish, a gunshot pierced through Nuru’s heart.
Shahid looked around to find his fellow army officer had shot Rashid! Shahid, once again, was struck with the helplessness to watch yet another member of his family die in front of him. He closed his brother’s eyes with trembling hands, held his head near his heart and watched Rashid take his last breath in his arms. Shahid’s breathing got heavier, his eyes pricking with tears, his heart shattered into pieces and his mind going absolutely blank. He looked at the fellow army officer standing just before him and nodded with a faint hint of a grin on the corner of his lips, the grin of despair and despondency. Rashid was a traitor to his beloved country after all…
This is how millions of people lost their family and friends and made sacrifices for their beloved motherland.